Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
Already in his lifetime, Ludwig van Beethoven was, just like many other great composers in music history, a “Breitkopf composer”.
The most prolific period of their collaboration was between 1808 and 1812, when Gottfried Christoph Härtel brought out all the works from op. 67 (Fifth Symphony) to op. 86 (C major Mass) in a seamless succession of first editions. Scholars have long known that during those years, the composer and publisher exchanged highly interesting letters.
Today’s emphasis is on the particular importance of the new Urtext editions of all Beethoven symphonies, published by Breitkopf between 1994 and 2005. With their editorial competence and always keeping the demands of performance practice in mind, Clive Brown and Peter Hauschild guarantee for a source critical music text. Interpreters like Kurt Masur were enthusiastic about the communication between research and musical practice: “Words are not enough to praise this exemplary edition, resulting from many years of systematic editorial work on the sources.”
And what’s more, early in 2003 Breitkopf & Härtel took over the practical orchestral materials based on the new Beethoven Complete Edition from the G. Henle Verlag, Munich, comprising all solo concertos, many overtures and numerous choral works with orchestra, including both mass settings. In the meantime, Breitkopf has published a number of further works from the Beethoven Complete Edition in Urtext for practical use.